Was Balloon Boy a hoax, a big publicity stunt? Richard Heene, dad of Falcon Heene, says no hoax, no publicity stunt, was staged as balloon boy captivated a nation – and tons of taxpapers’ moneys on search and rescue – all day Thursday.

Richard Heene’s bizarre helium balloon drifted across rural Colorado Thursday with son Falcon, 6, believed on board. It’s a story you saw all across the news Thursday, but not on LALATE, which passed on the story on the gut feeling something seemed very peculiar from the beginning.

Richard Heene told CNN tonight “I can see the direction you guys are hedging on this. I’m kind of appalled after all the feelings that I went through.”

Sheree Silver appeared on “Wife Swap” with Richard. The St Augustine News reports that when she was first broke the news today, “She said, ‘Oh my God. Richard’s pulled a publicity stunt.’ Richard Heene was Silver’s “spouse” for two weeks while filming an episode, which aired in March”.

It all heated up when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed the family tonight. If has ” gone through” so much, why is he off on talk shows within just hours?

Falcon was asked why he did not come out when his name was called in the family antic. The boy said: “You guys said that we did this for a show”

And from there, questions of a hoax took flight!

Falcon only came out after the balloon landed, Falcon was not found on board, and investigators began to worry that Falcon had separated from the balloon. Does it seem strange to you why Falcon was hiding and non responsive? Richard is confident in his position.

“The media had asked the sheriff’s department these questions about this publicity stunt… And everything that I went through, everything my wife has gone through, I just find that just disgusting.”

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4 Responses to 'Balloon Boy Hoax Publicity Stunt?'

I watched this live today on some of the 24 hr. news networks. Everyone first thought that he had actually flown away with the balloon; thankfully, it looks like he just set it off and then got scared about being in trouble for it.

Even more bizarre, in one of the interviews with the family, the kid said something about how it was all done for some “show”. I will be following this story in the next couple days.

LOCK EM UP said,

on October 16th, 2009 at 5:11 am

LOCK EM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY!!!!!

SEND THEM THE BILL TOO!!!!!

Ron said,

on October 16th, 2009 at 6:06 am

Everything about this smells of a publicity stunt. These folks have been on TV before and they know the routine. It is selfish and shameful to try to pull something like this off. It is arrogant because they must think the rest of us are so gullible. Now that they have some exposure, let us all watch and see how this benefits them. They knew exactly what they were doing.

MikeL said,

on October 16th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

Sick freak UFOlogist parents, UFO freaks are always hungry for publicity and attention above all else, as THESE parents have now shown over and over and over again. They should be billed $$ Hundreds fo Thousands $$ for teh rescue efforts and Denver airport flight delays.

The whole thing smells to high heaven.

1) The father has to know after all his experimentation and weatherman/science training, that the balloon that size could never carry a 50 pound payload

2) Where is the ‘box’ the kid was supposedly in under the balloon with a door? There is no such box in the photos of the craft before it launched. It is exactly the same on the ground before it launched, as what landed. And the dome/fill circular area is part of the gas , the old man knows his kid would never survive more than a minute or two breathing helium!

3) UFO freaks like this Dad, love publicity above all else including money. They will do anything to get it, including misusing children. Kind of like mothers who injure their chilf\dren so they can get attention and sympathy in Manuchusen by proxy syndrome. Look it up.